What in your opinion is the best rod for Murrel viz. ideal length, action, power, casting weight and line rating

OK CC, I'll take the bait. Though each has his own preferences, knowing your proclivities, style, and taste, I would suggest: Ugly-Stik, 6'6", Fast, MH, 3/4oz, 12lb Berkley Trilene. Zebco 6523XLm-3s reel. In the off season you can use this equipment to do bench presses.
You're welcome,
Mm

OK, since you guys are being coy (except for Mystic Maral, who is full of BS anyway) let me give you my take on this.

Rod Length: Ideally, one needs two lengths – 5.5-6 feet and 7 feet. The shorter rod is for fishing from a boat/coracle or even when fishing overgrown banks or under trees. The other rod will cover all other areas. If you are restricting yourself to one rod, a 6.5 footer is a good compromise.

Action: Since most fishing for Murrel is done with lures, I feel a moderate action is best – mainly for two reasons, first because a stiff rod when recoiling after the strike can pull the lure from the fish’s mouth and secondly, Murrel very often become acrobatic when they come in close and see the angler – a softer actioned rod makes it more difficult for the fish to throw the lure when performing its aerial manoeuvres.

Power: Light/medium to Medium. No explanation required as I have yet to see a Murrel over 8 Kgs although I know a couple of old timers here who have caught 12 kg. Murrel.

Casting Weight: 18 to 25 grams. Most commonly used lures are the Mepps # 5 Aglia which weighs about 15 gms.

Line Rating: IMO 12 lbs is max. Unless one is using weedless lures or Frogs and horsing them out of the weeds, in which case you need a stiff rod rated for at least 20 lbs line.

I tend to favour the Brits when it comes to rod lengths viz. I prefer longer rods (Gavin and Mystic Maral stay out of this :lol: ) and one of these days I am going to get myself a Salmon/Steelhead rod 8.5 to 9 feet long, medium action and rated for 12 lbs line. This should be great to use on the large lakes we fish in Hyderabad.

Dear CC,
In spite of your direct attack on my unblemished character I will boldly venture a reply. Granted that I know very little about rods and reels, hence defer to experts with vast knowledge like yourself, I will submit that irrespective of fishing locales (river, lake etc) four basic characteristics of rods are imperative:
a) sensitivity, b) power, c) weight, d) balance. Weight and balance are more objective, ie. can be empirically determined, while power and sensitivity, inspite of manufacturers claims, are quite subjective.

While I am happy that you have come over to my camp regarding shorter rods, because they unarguably provide the best combination of the aforementioned characteristics, it is puzzling that you want a 9ft rod for maral (Freudian analysis aside). The benefit of such a rod would be casting distance, but at the cost of all else. Sorry, can't cheat physics. Besides power, the three other characteristics go to hell, as does accuracy, a primary desire when fishing for maral. Yes, in lakes too. And landing a fish becomes more difficult also. I would respectfully ask you to forego your blind infatuation with "what the Brits do" (residual learned behaviour from the Raj?) and instead cast your myopic gaze on what the Nipponese do. While I am a dyed-in-the-wool Anglophile, prefering their primarily coarse fishing habits to the finesse-oriented wizards of Nippon is like recommending a Maruti over a Ferrari because the Maruti gets better gas mileage!!

I totally agree that sensitivity and weight are important. Balance too but that can if required, be achieved by a little tinkering.

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Besides power, the three other characteristics go to hell, as does accuracy, a primary desire when fishing for maral

Power does not have any thing to do with length neither does sensitivity. With regards to weight, this is not really an issue if one is using a properly balanced outfit and balance to a great extent depends on the placement of the reel seat on the blank, counterweights in the butt (of the rod, Gavin) and the weight of the reel.

The reason I would like a long rod is primarily because of the increased casting distance and why should accuracy suffer? The idea is to make long casts into open water, not to make short casts and drop lures into tiny openings in weed beds. At distances beyond 15 – 20 yards there will not be any perceptible difference in accuracy of casts with a long or short rod.

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And landing a fish becomes more difficult also..

Most times we guys fish with a companion close by and if he is acting as a net man it does not matter if your rod is 5’ long or 10’ – however, if you are alone then use a landing net with a longer handle.

Power does not have any thing to do with length neither does sensitivity

Congratulations...you've just rewritten classical mechanics. If you want a longer rod because you like novely and you want to own and try something new, then great. But you can't justify that with physical proof. Longer rods have greater mass and introduce many more dynamics into the equation if you want to have the same power and sesitivity as shorter rods. In the Middle Ages longswordsmen wielded their weapon to batter, not to thrust and parry. In WWII the Mitsubishi Zero was the most manoeuvreable aircraft partly because it was tiny. Big=unwieldy. Shorter=agility, accuracy, manouvreability, less strain. Sure, you can develop some proficiency with a longer rod but at great physical effort.

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With regards to weight, this is not really an issue if one is using a properly balanced outfit and balance to a great extent depends on the placement of the reel seat on the blank, counterweights in the butt (of the rod, Gavin) and the weight of the reel.

Balance doesn't obviate the problem of weight or work. Bigger rods have much more travel that has to be regulated (conciously or otherwise) with counter effort. Because of the law of conservation of energy, the distance travelled by most of the rods length has to be equalled by the great force exerted on the very small part behind the fulcrum. Lets not even get into angular momentum and torque.

Yes, longer rods cast far. Into open water. What percentage of time are maral caught in naked open water? Small. Most are caught near cover, rocks, stumps, etc. To get to this you need accuracy. Try writing holding a pencil in the middle.

Get a long rod for fooling around, getting snags, tiring, and saying "mine is bigger than yours". Get a shorter rod if you're serious about fishing, 7ft being the outer limit for maral.

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For once can you please can the sarcasm.

Me? Sarcastic? I'm about as sarcastic as St.Francis of Assisi. Please CC, I'm just a splinter as you slide down the bannister of fishing knowledge, so have compassion.

CC, MM,
A 7 ft Ugly stik was the first rod I ever used. learnt to cast with it. frog baits on marral.
Coming from an absolute newbie,yes, the controllability is good, casts effortlessly and can drop the lure pretty close to where I want to.I died of shock , when I started dropping the frog lures almost within a foot of where I wanted to...
may be after I get a 8-9 ft spinning rod, i can add my additional one cent...right now I only have a 3m beach caster, cant comment!
Best
Axx

Yes, longer rods cast far. Into open water. What percentage of time are maral caught in naked open water? Small. Most are caught near cover, rocks, stumps, etc. To get to this you need accuracy. Try writing holding a pencil in the middle. Mm

Unless you're Edwin Moses (the 400m immortal who said "I don't really see the hurdles, I sense them like a memory") hurdles are a bad thing. Why invite them in the first place and then learn to overcome them? Life is hard enough as it is without having to fight your equipment too.
This is only one of the reasons I champion getting the best.
Mm

Yes, in this the first X-rated Zen movie the Kaizen Master Mi-Huk Matzuo teaches the Four Noble Truths and The Way of The Jade Python and answers the eternal question "What is the sound of maral laughing?" by telling disciples to go maral fishing with a 9ft rod.
Mm

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